Holden Cruze production ends

Final locally-made small car rolls off the line.

The final Australian-made Holden Cruze rolled off the production line Friday October 7, 2016. Photo: Supplied

Ford isn't the only car maker saying farewell to a locally-made model today.

The final Australian-built Holden Cruze will roll off the Elizabeth production line Friday morning, ahead of the full closure of the Commodore production line before the end of 2017.

The last Cruze is a SRI Z-Series hatch and it will be donated to Holden's long-time charity partner, the Leukaemia Foundation, who will auction it tonight at its Light the Night event in Adelaide.

Holden built over 100,000 Cruze in Australia between 2011-16. Photo: Supplied

The Elizabeth factory built 126,255 Cruze sedans and hatchbacks since it was added to the local production line in 2011.

The end of Cruze means 270 employees will leave Holden by the end of November, but Holden claims this is less than originally anticipated due to strong on-going demand for Commodore, which was the seventh best-selling model in September according to the latest new car sales data released this week.

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"Those who were involved in the Cruze project have a strong, and deserved, sense of pride at what was achieved in terms of project development, management, engineering, design and, of course, production," Bernhard said.

"Holden's business is changing and we are building a bright future, but it is equally important to recognise and honour our people and our heritage. We're incredibly proud of our manufacturing history and our legacy; I want to thank every Holden employee, and all those people in the supply chain, for their personal contribution to our industry and our company."

Drive Comments

10 Comments

| 2016-10-07 02:27:10

TonyB | 2016-10-07 06:08:55

126,255 in five years tells its own story - that's around 25,000 a year. Doesn't a line need around 100,000 a year to be viable?

Fungus | 2016-10-07 22:58:34

@TonyB How far out of touch are you? Even the Ford Focus and Mazda3 out of any single factory do not make 100,000 per year, so in answer to your question... NO! All it needs is a manufacturing friendly government that does not undermine local manufacturers with treasonous FTAs. You realise that Holden was asking for money to set up a THIRD line in Adelaide, Australia could have become one of the car industry powerhouses, considering Australia was not subsidising the local car industry as much (per capita even) thayt all the other 19 car manufacturing countries globally! Yes there were unions demanding more pay etc, but even the head of GM admitted the Cruze made here was the best built globally!
Sad to see it go, maybe the balance of trade effect will hit sooner than the economists are predicting, either way it will hit hard and expect austerity measures much harsher than Hockey had planned.

Fungus | 2016-10-07 23:00:58

@TonyB APart from my previous post, it is actually 4 years as both 2011 and 2016 were not full years. The 2011 was a flow on from the deals made when ALP was in power, the 2016 is the LNP effect.

Fungus | 2016-10-08 01:16:43

Are the parallel imports and import of second hand cars? Yes cheaper cars, but all the flooding and such, we will be a dumping ground. Sad to see Holden slowly stopping.

Testpilot | 2016-10-08 22:36:30

Free trade agreements!don't you just love them?
Made by political idiots without a clue to the long term consequences.

TonyB | 2016-10-09 09:22:05

2015 Cruze sales were just 15,222. Meanwhile Nissan UK is building 500,000 cars a year on two lines, and Toyota Altona has been building around 90,000 Camrys on one line.

Gary Quinlan | 2016-10-09 12:21:53

The Cruze was an underwhelming car compared to its competitors. Maybe not in the Camira league but you get the drift. The Golf, Focus and Mazda 3 to name just three, were simply much better choices in every way.

kipp6351 | 2016-10-10 01:16:03

TonyB, you do realise Holden run commodore, ute, wagon & caprice as well as Cruze down the same line?!! No other plant in the world does that. Look at the total number going down the line, not pick 1 model. Also, check the government assistance given to the uk plants, who also very nearly made the same mistake we've just made in shutting car manufacturing. Of course you do realise the effects will be far reaching, and will include yourself ultimately?!

| 2016-10-10 01:51:26

@ TonyB, Cruze and Commodore are produced on the same production line so Cruze just kept the line busier than it will now be.

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